To date the components for a cracker or a high pressure ethylene reactor have been circular in cross-section. The consideration of the cost of manufacture relative to efficiency of the reactor in terms of pressure drop and erosion rate has been largely weighted to minimize the cost of manufacturing. Hence the components have circular cross sections. With the increase in the price of feedstocks both for the cracking process and the furnace and the concern about green house gas emissions the weighting of the factors in the design of components is starting to move toward the efficiency of the process. Several factors to be considered in the efficiency of the furnace include the pressure drop across (i.e., along the length of) the cracker the erosion rate of the components of the reactor and the degree of recirculation of the flow which relates to fouling (e.g., coke deposition).
Methods for designing a material handling system using computer selected parts from a catalogue or inventory of parts are directed at assembling pre-existing parts are known, but do not disclose or teach the designing of new parts.
There are methods to use computer assisted design (CAD) to initially generate drawings for a pipe network based on a standard pipe sizes. That system does not disclose the design of “custom” pipe or a custom elbow, etc., to use either alone or in combination with standard pipe sizes.
There are computer programs to estimate “wall thinning”. The process is based on measurements of pipe erosion and modeling the fluid flow throughout the entire pipe network or system to predict the rate of wall thinning at a point distant from the actual measurement. This is then used to predict the locations of potential pipe failure and to schedule maintenance of the pipe network to minimize “down time”. The designing of individual components for the pipe network to minimize pressure drop and erosion is not disclosed.
As far as applicants have been able to determine there is no art suggesting a non-circular cross section for the components (e.g., pipes, bends and wyes individually or in combination) for a serpentine fluid reactor such as an olefins (ethylene or propylene) cracker or a high pressures ethylene polymerization reactor.
A need exists for components individually and collectively for a fluid serpentine reactor which is fabricated to minimize any one of or combinations of pressure drop, fouling, recirculation, erosion in the component(s), the assembled reactor, or both and cost (operating, capital or both).